Oscar race underway at National Board of Review Awards

NEW YORK -- The long march to Oscar's red carpet runs right through NYC where The National Board of Review has long been one of the first to give out prizes.

The group formed back in 1909 chooses 10 movies as the best of the year and honors those responsible for those films.

The importance of this event is due to its timing. Thursday, January 12th marks the start of Oscar voting when roughly 9,500 Academy members will start marking their ballots, so early award ceremonies like The National Review gala take on special importance because they draw attention to the leading contenders.

After a career lasting almost 40 years, Michelle Yeoh is having a moment.

She was called Best Actress at the Cipriani 42nd Street gala Sunday night thanks to the quirky, smash-up of different genres called "Everywhere Everything All at Once."

"I am the first Asian actress in the 45 years of the National Board of Review to get, to receive this award," she said. "So it means the world to me, but I think it means so much more to everyone who looks like me."

Janelle Monae has won praise for her role in "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery," which could put the Grammy winner in the Oscar race when nominations are announced later this month.

"I hope that I make it to January 24th," she said. "I'm not owed anything, and yet I'm so thankful for it all so it's a beautiful time."

"The Banshees of Inisherin," about the breakdown of a long friendship between two men on an island off the coast of Ireland, earned Colin Farrell an award as Best Actor, thanks to his skillful exploration of the movie's universal themes.

According to the star, those would be, "loneliness, community, need for solitude, need to be part of a friendship, what happens to the broken heard when a friendship is dissolved."

Farrell is a veteran of the hoopla. But that's not so for Gabriel LaBelle, who plays a character based on director Steven Spielberg in "The Fablemans."

"It's nuts, it's very strange," LaBelle said about the scene on the carpet. "I'll admit I've never done an interview before this movie. I've never done a red carpet before this movie. I've never done a photo shoot."

He's already learning the first lesson of any Oscar campaign: those involved better have plenty of stamina.